


Take Your Time

by gaytypo



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Just some guys being dudes, M/M, Mute Gordon Freeman, mentions of scientists but theyre unimportant, no res cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27937182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaytypo/pseuds/gaytypo
Summary: Barney wonders what makes Gordon Freeman late all the time.
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 4
Kudos: 99





	Take Your Time

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is short I'm just typing some words because I don't know how to write the boys yet. I've never played a Half Life game but I watch the speed runs so I know things

Barney Calhoun has been called a bit of a daydreamer once or twice in his life. So, prompted by the arrival of one Gordon Freeman to Black Mesa, he found himself musing. The main point of intrigue was why he always showed up late. Door checkpoints, tram entry, any shift he worked, the ubiquitous man seemed to show up when everyone else, scientist and all other personnel alike, had passed through already.

  
At first, he tried to give the benefit of the doubt. The Black Mesa corridors were long and confusing, the tram system was unforgiving, and little help (aside from ol Barney) was provided to those who got lost. These were all valid reasons, in the eyes of a casually observing guard, that is. When he heard one of Dr. Freeman's colleagues making the pointed observation that he'd yet again failed to arrive on time, however, he began to wonder.

  
It couldn't have been that he didn't care. Even without everything Barney has learned in the time spent with the man himself, he knew Doc Freeman was a passionate guy. The breakroom gossip told of an MIT graduate with all this research he did overseas, apparently not satisfied at just that. Enough to turn to the somewhat unsavory in procedure and facility: Black Mesa. Even Barney knew how sketchy some of those experiments looked. You have to be desparate, stupid, or seeking exactly that. To him, working here was a necessity.

  
Maybe he just had terrible luck, was Barney's next guess. He found himself paying extra attention to the details. Was his hair dry? His clothes crumpled? Did he ever forget his belongings? Maybe lose his glasses or pocket protector? Focusing so hard on this, Barney was often caught missing the movement of his hands or the passing of time. He found himself distracted by the singularity that was Gordon.

  
The first time they met up outside of a work context—the occasional brush in the breakroom, stopping by between shift change—Barney didn't know whether to expect to wait upwards of 30 minutes. The bar they decided on was about as far from Black Mesa as everything else in the world, but at least the corporate-paid transportation would get you close enough to walk the rest of the way. While Barney double-checked the train schedule for how soon the next would be (in the likely case Gordon missed it), a hand appeared on his shoulder. Gordon himself stood there, signing some snarky comment about Barney startling easily, too. The doctor was oblivious to the thoughts and emotions passing through Barney's head faster than chips on a roulette board. Gordon showed up right on time for him.

  
Also, he didn't seem to get the memo to dress down for the occasion. Still in full uniform, sans lab coat, he grinned and gestured ahead towards the train car. They fell into conversation easily, the whole way to town and all through the night, till the last train of the night pulled into Black Mesa's greeting station. If Barney overslept a bit the next morning, and found himself a couple minutes late to his shift, well. That kind of thing happens every once in a while, doesn’t it?

  
Barney didn’t want to enable the behavior. Inside, though, he really did enjoy Gordon showing up after everybody else. Every time they pass, alone in the Black Mesa corridors, they could manage more than just a hello. Once Barney tried to call him on it(shucks, Doc, you must be running awful behind, don’t let me keep you), but he just smiled and explained that he was already late enough, spending an extra minute on him wouldn’t make him on time. Barney hadn’t known whether to thank or kiss him.

  
Barney started paying attention to the things he was on time for. As big as his head, he knew that drinks with his guard friend wasn’t the only occasion in life Gordon deemed worthwhile. One day, when told Dr. Kleiner locked his keys in the lab once again, Barney raced to the vents. Come to find out Gordon was already halfway through the vents. Barney took a moment to note that Gordon would rush if it meant winning their friendly competition. And win, he did.

  
Now, though, sitting in his dorm, playing some game on his phone while Gordon gets dressed for work, he has some kind of epiphany. Distantly, he knows that it’s 5 past when he should’ve left to get there on time. But five minutes ago they were cuddling on the couch, finishing the last bit of a silly documentary neither of them could bear to turn off. Barney knows, as he moves to adjust Gordon’s tie and gets pulled into a litany of kisses, that there are moments worth savoring. Fuck working, they were both exactly where they needed to be.


End file.
